December 28 Raymond Nendze, 48, of West Milford was traveling south in the main exit lane of the West Milford Shop Rite parking lot in order to exit onto Marshall Hill Road. Barbara Ritz, 41, of Ringwood, was also in the Shop Rite parking lot, stopped, over the stop line in her lane, facing east and partially in the path of vehicle #1. When Nendze proceeded past Ritz, Ritz then drove forward, striking into the passenger side front and rear doors of Nendze’s vehicle with the front of her car. Ritz said that she was stopped and observed Nendze proceeding toward the exit, but thought that he stopped to let her go and she proceeded forward. Nendze had the right of way to exit the parking lot. Carl Mainardi, 70, of Fairlawn, was traveling south on Union Valley Road. A deer ran in front of the vehicle from right to left. The vehicle struck the deer, throwing the deer into northbound lane. Donald Denneau, 58, of West Milford, traveling north on Union Valley Road, struck the same deer as the deer came into his lane. Debris from each car noted in their respective lanes. Jason Straway, 23, of Ogdensburg, stated that he was driving southbound on Route 23 when a large bear entered the roadway from the left into his lane of travel. Straway stated that he was unable to avoid impact with the bear. The initial impact caused the bear to spin and land in the middle of the roadway and was subsequently struck by three additional vehicles. Impact with the bear caused moderate damage to the left front of Straway’s vehicle; damage to the left front bumper of the vehicle driven by Catlin Naser, 20, of Franklin; damage to the right front bumper of the vehicle driven by Kevin Reed, 27, of Glenwood; and damage to the left fog light of the vehicle driven by Zackary Durren, 34, of Butler. The bear was deceased after being struck. State Division of Fish and Wildlife was notified. Rebecca Hutmann, 28, of Hardyston stated that she was southbound on Route 23 when she observed traffic slowing as a result of an accident involving a struck bear in the roadway when her vehicle was struck from behind by a second vehicle. The driver of the second vehicle, Keith Rock, 25, of Franklin, stated he was southbound on Route 23 when he saw vehicles stopped in the roadway. He stated he attempted to slow and steer to the right but could not avoid impact with Hutmann’s vehicle. Impact caused moderate damage to right rear of Hutmann’s vehicle and left front of Rock’s vehicle. December 29 Steven Giovanni, 47, of Lanoka Harbor, was stopped in traffic on Route 23 south at a red traffic light. Courtney Bonser, 30, of Highland Lakes, did not stop and rear ended Giovanni. Bonser was issued a summons for careless driving. Danielle Stoner, 23, of Highland Lakes, stated she was traveling north on Route 23. Stoner stated that a second vehicle was traveling on Germantown Road, entered Route 23 north and struck her vehicle causing impact. The driver of the second vehicle, Michelle Panicucci, 37, of West Milford, stated that she was traveling on Germantown Road, stopped at the intersection of Route 23 north, did not observe any traffic, proceeded onto Route 23 and struck Stoner’s vehicle. Panicucci issued summons for disregard of stop sign, failure to yield. December 30 Accident investigation revealed that Charles Adamkiewicz, 45, of Phoenix, AZ, was traveling north on Warwick Turnpike with a second vehicle directly behind. The second vehicle, driven by Linda Kochan, 19, of Kinnelon, struck Adamkiewicz while illegally passing on the left and attempted to flee the scene. Kochan issued summons for leaving the scene of an accident. December 31 Melina Kraft, 20, of West Milford, was traveling west on Union Valley Road, made a left turn onto Monmouth Ave., and lost control on snow-covered roadway. The vehicle slid sideways and struck the curb, flipping on its side onto lawn of 12 Monmouth Ave. January 1 Amanda Moeller, 19, of Sussex, was traveling south on Warwick Turnpike just north of Hanover Road when it lost control, ran off road to the right, then ran up a snow bank and hit a tree. Minor front-end damage. Driver was issued summons for careless driving. While on patrol officer was traveling on Marshall Hill Road in an easterly direction when he noticed a vehicle in front of him traveling at a very slow pace and weaving erratically in and out of its lane of travel. Vehicle failed to use directional signal at the Lincoln Ave. intersection. Officer Charles McQuaid initiated a traffic stop. Driver Kyle Mueller, 20, of Ringwood, was found to be DWI. Accused was released on summons to his father. West Milford Body and Frame impounded the vehicle. Gregory Gaesser, 19, of Cedar Grove was traveling east on Lincoln Ave. He was traveling too fast for road conditions and lost control at the bend in the road, rear end of the car started to fishtail. The vehicle began to spin in a 180 degree turn, traveled onto portion of snow covered lawn of 42 Lincoln Ave, continued on by traveling over a stump in the ground that did significant damage to the undercarriage and slowed the momentum of the car down. Gaesser and passenger refused medical attention. Summons issued for careless driving and failure to maintain lane. Vehicle (unoccupied) owned by Roland Bauer of West Milford was parked on Yorkshire Ave directly in front of 25 Yorkshire when it was struck by an unknown vehicle on the driver side of the unoccupied vehicle. The registered owner states that the vehicle was undamaged at 1630 hours. The damage was discovered at approximately 1900 hours. January 2 While traveling southbound on Clinton Road, Gabrielle Opuda, 19, of Oak Ridge viewed an animal in the road, applied her brake to avoid the animal and slid on the wet roadway causing her to go off road, striking a concrete barrier. Damage to the front passenger tire and the passenger side of the vehicle. January 3 While traveling south on Route 23, Christopher Pick, 18, of West Milford lost control of his vehicle due to the snowy road conditions. At this time, vehicle struck the center concrete median with the right front side of the vehicle then proceeded into a 180-degree spin, striking the concrete median again with the right rear side of the vehicle, causing damage. January 4 On the above date at 9:24 a.m., West Milford Police was notified of a burglary to the trailer at Paint Ball Depot at above location. Officer spoke to the business owner who advised that someone had broken a window gaining entrance to the trailer. A cash register containing one hundred dollars was taken. Under investigation by West Milford Police Detective Bureau. January 6 Investigation determined Aida Kitchen, 50, of West Milford wasn’t paying attention and drove off the roadway into a telephone pole. Kitchen was issued a summons for careless driving. Michelle Fenwick, 42, of West Milford, was driving south on Otterhole Road when she collided with a vehicle at the intersection of Otterhole Road and Maple Road. The second vehicle, driven by Wendy Neill, 41, of West Milford, apparently failed to stop completely and did not yield to the right of way of the first vehicle. As Neill was turning left onto Otterhole Road she was struck by Fenwick in the driver’s side front and back door. After Neill’s vehicle was struck it traveled off the roadway colliding with several garbage cans before striking the guardrail. Neill was issued summons for expired inspection and failure to observe the stop sign. Daniel Nelson, 26, of Hewitt, was traveling southbound down mountain on Warwick Turnpike during a sleet storm with icy road conditions. Nelson approached a left-handed curve and lost control of vehicle when it began to skid sideways on the icy roadway. Vehicle struck and jumped the curb on the right side of the roadway onto a steep rocky embankment, overturned, then came to rest upside down in the middle of the southbound lane of Warwick Turnpike. Two vehicles were stopped at the traffic light in the jug handle at Route 23 south and Clinton Road. Vincent Fiorito, 63, of Oak Ridge was in the left lane; Ronald Kreger, 20, of Hewitt was in the right lane. When the signal turned green, both vehicles proceeded forward in their respective lanes. Fiorito went to make a right turn from his lane into the dirt parking lot of the Village Square Inn and did not see Kreger in the right lane, striking the front of Kreger’s vehicle causing damage to both vehicles. No injuries reported. January 7 Officer dispatched to the above location for a DPW (Department of Public Works) truck overturned. Officer observed the roadway to be covered in a ½ inch of ice and impassable. Upon speaking with the driver, Jeffery Welch, 37, of West Milford, stated that he was plowing and sanding the roadway coming down the hill when the truck started to slide, driver stated that the right side of the plow struck a tree, which caused the loaded truck to overturn on its side. Due to the severity of the road conditions it was decided to leave the truck at the above location until weather conditions improved. Nicole Molchon, 38, of Greenwood Lake was driving east on Gould Road when a very large tree limb broke off of a tree and fell onto her windshield. Windshield shattered. Driver was transported to Chilton hospital for medical evaluation. January 8 Frank Strelman, 52, of Oak Ridge was driving south on Paradise Road when he saw a bus pulled over to the side of the road. Strelman stated the bus had no lights on and looked to be pulled over but then he noticed it was actually picking up children, so he stopped short. Ramon Velez, 39, of Oak Ridge was also traveling south on Paradise Road and rear-ended Strelman. Velez also stated that the bus had no flashing lights on .